Question: For adults with Alzheimer’s Disease, how effective is Donezepil compared with other medications or no medication, in improving all patient outcomes?

Answer:

Evidence from a systematic review, which included ten relevant randomised controlled trials, indicated that donezepil may have a small benefit for slowing decline in cognition, function, behaviour and clinical global change in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Both 5 mg/d and 10 mg/d doses appeared to be effective in patients with mild to moderate disease, however, evidence of effectiveness was restricted to the 10 mg/d dose in people with severe disease. The 10 mg/d dose, but not the 5 mg/d dose of donezepil, was associated with increased rates of adverse events and withdrawals.

All evidence was derived from placebo controlled trials; there were no studies providing direct comparisons of effectiveness between drugs. High quality studies comparing the effectiveness of different cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine are needed, as well as studies further investigating how effectiveness varies with disease severity.

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